MG scouts Spanish sites for first European plant

British brand MGowned by Chinese automobile group SAIKaccelerated his plans to produce cars in Europe following the European Commission’s proposal to increase tariffs on electric vehicles made in China.

WITHCompensatory duties are almost 38%SAIC will be one of the companies most affected by the Brussels proposal, which began negotiations with Beijing avoid retaliation from the Chinese government and try to achieve bilateral agreement.

MG and its parent company SAIC are located in “complete disagreement” with the European proposal to raise tariffs on Chinese electric cars, although they believe that influence in Spain will be limited because it only affects 5% of the market new cars.

Other hybrid and internal combustion vehicles made in China are not affected by the countervailing duties and will continue to apply 10% tariffsas it has been happening up until now.

Brussels’ measure could become an obstacle some northern European countries where MG sells only electric cars. To mitigate the negative impact, it was decided to place part of its production on European soil as they already announced BID and brands Omoda And Jaecooowned by a Chinese group cherrywhich plans to assemble cars in Barcelona’s free trade zone.

Candidates

EXPANSIÓN has learned that the SAIC group is considering the possibility at least three countries to build its first plant in Europe, including Spainwhich has become one of the most important markets for MG with almost 30,000 vehicles delivered in 2023In 2024, he hopes to achieve 36,000 units in Spain and 250,000 across Europefigures that allow some of the production to be located on the continent.

Two other aspiring countries Czech Republic And Hungarywhere labor costs are lower, although Spain has the advantage of being closer and better connected by water to the United Kingdoma key market for MG, given its British origins.

Signature founded in 1924 by William Morris As a sports car maker, it is one of the UK’s most popular brands and is hoping to surpass 80,000 units sold in 2024.

SAIC has stepped up its game contacts with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and explore different places Northern Spain where it could locate its first production centre in Europe. Several autonomous communities, including Galicia, Cantabria and Aragonoffered themselves to a Chinese automobile company to facilitate a planned investment that would have great impact on the local economy.

Decision in the summer

Portfolio members headed by Jordi Hereu They accompanied SAIC emissaries on exploration work. The Chinese company will announce the final decision until the end of summerThis was reported by sources familiar with the case.

SAIC Deck three production systems to start producing cars in Europe as soon as possible. None of the three options is exclusive, so the group could implement some of them at different stages and in different countrieswhich increases Spain’s chances of hosting an MG production centre.

The first and fastest option: lease excess production capacity to another manufacturer are already installed in Europe, although few brands are willing to give part of their production to a Chinese manufacturer, even if they have problems with demand.

Another intermediate option is to raise CKD or SKD assembly plant as Omoda does at the former Nissan facilities in Barcelona, ​​which involves partially dismantling cars in China and collect them in Europe to avoid 10% duties which affect non-electric Chinese cars.

The third option, and the slowest: build a plant from scratch to produce cars entirely in Europe, which is what will be done BYD in Hungary and TurkeyThis may delay MG’s plans to manufacture products locally, but the ultimate goal is to have its own plant in Europe.

Billing in Spain

MG’s Spanish subsidiary ends 2023 financial year with turnover 554 million euros, four times more than in 2022when he recorded a business volume of 133 million, which demonstrates his rapid growth in the Spanish market.

MG, which just reached Since 2021, 50,000 units have been sold in Spain.has set itself the goal of becoming one of the top 10 best-selling automobile brands in our country by 2026, when its range of cars self-charging hybrids there is a year of life on the market.

The British brand has already started selling MG3 Hybrid+more than 500 units of which have been delivered since May, with more to come in the coming months ZS and HS Hybrid+. In 2026 there will also be Hybrid C-segment model to complete the range.

A Chinese investment firm that complies 100 years since its inception, presented yesterday at Goodwood Festival of Speedin the south of England, the new MG HS. The new SUV features a design that is very different from the previous model. 4.67 meters will arrive in Spain this summer and will spend Plug-in hybrid version with an electric range of 100 kilometers.so you will get maximum help from the newly expanded Move plan III.

MG assures that Plug-in hybrid version of new HS will be cheaper what version it replaces and which will have full autonomy of more than 1000 kilometersbetween the fuel tank and the new one battery 21 kWh.